MANCHESTER CITY resume their Premier League title defence when they travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton on Wednesday night.
The Citizens' quest for a fourth successive top-flight crown was placed on hold over the last 10 days or so due to being involved in the Club World Cup.
As expected, Pep Guardiola’s side picked up their fifth trophy of 2023 by conquering the world with a 4-0 win over Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday.
Given that City have won just one of their last six league games, Pep will be hoping his team's Club World Cup triumph could be the catalyst they need to fuel another Sky Blue title charge.
As for Everton, they saw their four-game winning run in the Premier League come to an end in a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on Saturday.
While the Toffees have performed tremendously well following their 10-point deduction, they go into this game just two places and four points above the drop zone.
Outright Betting
Everton are 9/2 (William Hill) underdogs as they look to make it three Premier League home wins in succession while a share of the Goodison Park spoils pays 16/5 (William Hill).
Despite picking up maximum points from just one of their last six Premier League matches, Man City make the trip to Merseyside as short priced 4/7 (Bet 365) favourites.
Betting Angles
Given that Man City are becoming difficult to trust at such short prices, I’ll once again opt for a Bet Builder by placing together Over 1.5 Everton Cards and Nathan Patterson to commit a foul at 10/11 (PaddyPower).
With Man City likely to dictate the tempo of the game, and Everton looking to sit deep and soak up pressure, I’m happy to back the hosts to pick up at least two cards during this contest.
Sean Dyche’s side are averaging just over two yellow cards per-game in the Premier League this season, collecting a minimum of two bookings in each of their last four outings at their Merseyside base.
That quartet of fixtures came against Brighton, Man United, Newcastle and Chelsea, and it would be fair to say that a visit from Man City will represent an upgrade on all of those challenges.
The 10/11 (PaddyPower) Bet Builder can be given a handy boost by backing Nathan Patterson to commit a minimum of one foul.
The Toffees right-back has tackled his way into trouble in six of the seven Premier League games he has started this season and he should have his hands full here with Jack Grealish, who is likely to be his direct opponent.
In fact, I’m also prepared to take it one step further and back Patterson to give away two or more fouls at an eye-catching 9/5 with PaddyPower.
The Scotland international committed five fouls at Tottenham on Saturday, picking up a yellow card in the process, so a couple of misdemeanours against Man City warrants interest at 9/5 (PaddyPower).
This English Premier League match between Everton and Manchester City will be played on Dec 27, 2023 and kick off at 20:15. Check below for our tipsters best Everton vs Manchester City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.